#MindMyOwnBusiness2017

Am I the only one who remembers the popular twitter trend titled “#wastehistime2016” ? Well I’m starting my own trend, for myself, and it should be much more productive than that twitter trend turned out to be.

Focus has become one of the most important things I’ve gained and a major goal I’ve got in mind for my last bit of time in university and America, is to mind my own business. For some people, that might sound like a crazy “goal” or just a crazy thing to say about myself in general. I don’t necessarily mean it in a way where I’m saying I like to “stir the pot”, but I have this tendency to get wrapped up in stuff that has nothing to do with me. This affects me in multiple ways too. It may cause me to grumble excessively, focus more on what I don’t have and what people aren’t doing for me (got that bit from this lovely Joyce Meyer sermon titled “How Can I Have God’s Peace?“), I may find myself worrying about someone so much that I am unable to do what I need to do, or I end up in the middle of some drama. Well, no more of that. But you know what, it’s actually been a lot harder that I thought to just mind my own business. See, it’s a conscious effort that can become a habit, but if you’re not used to doing so- it can be tricky!

You see, over the next 12 months, my time and mentality are so precious to me. More than ever before because I’ve finally come around to realizing the value of peace and productivity. So, I’ve got to figure out some ways to be sure that I’m “minding my own”. I was thinking:

Make a 2017-2018 (academic year) vision board. I could display it somewhere that I’d see it everyday and it could serve as a daily reminder of where I’m going and how I’m gonna get there.

Write a list of rules and post them on my door or wall. These things would be like; “I will not allow anyone to get under my skin” and “I’m going to ignore any and all drama anyone brings to me, even if it’s about me”. By seeing this daily, it should aid me in staying focused.

Take care of my own personal health and well being. I just mean that I want to be sure that I’m praying, working out, eating healthy, keeping up with annual/semi annual medical appointments, etc…

Get myself involved with things I actually want to do. While I will try to do this without being the hermit I am, these things will include student organizations, studying Japanese more, blogging, and sewing.

Reflect every morning and night. As Joyce said, the grumbling is usually rooted in a negative pattern of thoughts about what I don’t have. To combat this, I want to reflect every day about what I do have and how close I am to accomplishing my goals.

I will also probably distance myself from anything that makes this goal difficult for me to achieve. This may include avoiding people who are involved in thoughts or activities that usually lead to me getting wrapped up in drama. Of course, this doesn’t mean that I will not support those who need me though. I will just have to learn to do it in a way where it’s not affecting my life. The art of balancing taking care of myself while still supporting those around me has proven to be a very interesting one.

And of course, the biggest thing to be mindful of, is that sometimes things will be my business, whether I want them to be or not, and I’ve got to learn to manage how much energy I put in and how I allow it to affect my mood/productivity.

Ultimately, what I’d like to see at the end of this, is a healthier me. I want to be able to handle the stress of the courses I’m taking over the next 12 months while still excelling academically, manage my social life so that I don’t fully become a hermit while not allowing it to distract me from my goals, and keep my eyes set on the goal (that I absolutely will reach) at the end of all of this.